February 9, 2013

Chiney gets help from her friends

Chiney Ogwumike registered her seventh consecutive double-double and her 18th of the season as the Stanford women’s basketball team defeated Arizona 73-43 in Maples Pavilion on Feb. 8. However, the junior forward had lots of help as several of her teammates made significant contributions in the victory.

Perhaps the most gratifying and encouraging contribution came from redshirt junior forward Mikaela Ruef, who recorded the first double-double of her career. Until that night, Mikaela was primarily noted for defense and rebounds, but this performance, with its 11 points and 10 rebounds, made her a more potent offensive weapon. In addition, it signified major progress for a player who sat out most of last season because of a foot injury. Mikaela also recorded two assists in 24 minutes.

Chiney’s output included 18 points, 12 rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes. Senior forward Joslyn Tinkle added 15 points, four rebounds and one assist in 15 minutes. Her time was limited by four fouls, but her point total included three of four from behind the arc.

The two starting guards, sophomore Amber Orrange and junior Sara James, scored 6 and 9 points, respectively. Sara also had one rebound and four assists in 17 minutes. Her points included one 3. Amber added four assists, one block and three steals in 28 minutes.

Coming off the bench, sophomore forward Bonnie Samuelson had 8 points, one rebound and one steal in 18 minutes. She was 0-6 on 3’s, but she was a perfect 4-4 at the free-throw line. Initially known as a 3-point shooter, she’s showing more versatility near the basket and on defense.

Sophomore forward Taylor Greenfield’s only scoring came from a 3-pointer, one of the team’s five for the night. Taylor had five rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes.

Mikaela started the game in place of junior guard Toni Kokenis, who was held out because of an undisclosed illness.

The game started slowly, and Arizona moved ahead 4-6 at the 15:47 mark and began applying the full-court pressure that continued most of the game. By the 8:05 mark, however, Stanford was ahead 18-13 and Chiney had already scored 10 points.

The referees called a close game, whistling Arizona for 21 fouls and Stanford for 18. Stanford cashed in by making 18 of 27 free throws, while Arizona made 10 of 19. Each team had 19 turnovers.

With the Cardinal comfortably ahead 68-35 with 7:10 to go in the second half, Chiney went to the bench for the night. Ultimately, all available players got into the game.

Before the game started, the crowd of slightly more than 3,500 had a chance to cheer for head coach Tara VanDerveer. It was announced that she had won her 400th conference game – more than any other Division 1 coach – against Oregon the previous weekend.

The subsequent wins over Oregon State and now Arizona brought that total to 402.

Also getting the evening off to a good start was Motley Q, the men’s barbershop quartet that sang the national anthem.

Halftime featured an entertaining, well-played scrimmage by sixth- and eighth-grade girls from the Coyote Creek National Junior Basketball chapter on the south side of San Jose. NJB is a program for boys and girls in grades 3-8.

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About Me

Judy reviews San Francisco Bay Area theater and writes feature articles about activities of the Stanford Women's Basketball team and Fast Break Club. A longtime Bay Area journalist, she is retired from the San Francisco Chronicle, where she was a writer and copy editor.